Tuition freeze called 'positive step'

It's the first time that the state university cost won't rise since 1980-81.

Written by

and Jason Noble

Undergraduates at Iowa’s three state public universities will pay the same tuition in the fall as they did this year under an agreement reached Wednesday between Senate Democrats and House Republicans.

It will be the first time in more than 30 years that tuition has not increased.

Lawmakers agreed to an $897.7 million spending plan for public education in Iowa, continuing the slow creep toward a full state budget and an end to the 2013 legislative session. The bill could be voted on later this week.

The Board of Regents, which governs the state universities, last year proposed to freeze tuition if it received a bump in state funding.

The regents will get $558.6 million under the compromise plan, a $13.6 million boost from the current year. General funding for the University of Iowa will see a $5.6 million increase, alongside a $4.4 million bump at Iowa State University and $2.1 million increase at the University of Northern Iowa.

Interim Regents President Bruce Rastetter said the deal allows the universities to avoid a tuition increase for the first time since the 1980-81 school year.

ISU student president Spencer Hughes praised the Legislature for helping keep Iowa’s public universities more affordable than most comparable institutions, including those in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

“It is another positive step towards making a public college education in Iowa as affordable as possible,” Hughes said.

ISU President Steven Leath, in a statement, said he is “very pleased with the progress thus far.”

The bipartisan agreement, though, did not include money for a proposed $40 million need-based state grant that would replace tuition set-aside, a financial aid program in which a portion of tuition went to offset the cost for lower-income students.

Rastetter said regents next year will again request money for tuition assistance. “We will come back next year and continue to talk about the tuition grant program, which we think is important to continue accessibility and affordability at the public universities,” he said.

Rastetter and other regents officials had said they hoped to receive at least partial funding for the grant this year, with the possibility of future increases.

The agreement also funds community colleges, the Department of Education and several other education-related functions.

The Senate did secure funding for adult education and workforce training. A total of $40.3 million will go to various training and education programs, but will be funded from state gaming revenues rather than the general fund, which is derived primarily from income tax revenues.

Senate Education Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Brian Schoenjahn, D-Arlington, hailed the inclusion of the funding as a big victory and a boon to the state economy.